Course Description
This course is an exploration of the Early Modern “utopian impulse,” which found expression in literature, architectural writings, social experiments, maps, and real and/or planned built environments. Whether or not they are “literary” in nature, all of these expressions are fundamentally narratives, with numerous explicit and implicit stories and ideologies that engage with and blur the boundaries between concepts of the “ideal” and the “real,” “fiction” and “reality,” and “history” and “invention.” Our primary focus will be on the utopias of Early Modern England, Italy, and the Americas, from c. 1450 to c.1750, with a concentration on the 16th and 17th centuries; all materials will be made available in English translation. We will take advantage of the rich resources of the Yale Special Collections and place a strong emphasis on these texts in their full material, conceptual, and contextual identities, with trips to a related exhibition in Sterling Memorial Library, to the Map Collection, and to Beinecke Rare Books and Manuscripts Library.

Enrollment is limited to 15.

The deadline for application is May 11.

For information about the Summer Session, follow: http://www.yale.edu/summer/application/index.html

The syllabus will soon be posted on this site under the course listing; interested students may also contact me directly.

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